Stereotypes have become a key aspect in TV and movies, especially in children’s movies and TV. The stereotype of the “smart kid” has become especially prevalent in kids shows. Gifted children are most often presented as high achieving, creative individuals with different emphasises being placed on either the stereotypical “gifted traits” such as annoying, unathletic, and unpopular, or their creativity being displayed prominently and often being used as the main plot driver. The harmony hypothesis is also commonly found in gifted children in the media as well as the disharmony hypothesis. These differing approaches result in a societal disconnect in views about gifted children as well as a disjunction in gifted children's own self perception. …show more content…
This small number most likely explains why the portrayal of gifted children in the media is so far from reality. The characteristics of gifted children include rapid learning, intense feelings about certain topics, abstract thinking and extreme curiosity, among other things (NAGC 1). These characteristics are commonly used by professionals to identify gifted individuals; however, these characteristics will often get construed into the more “annoying” traits seen in gifted stereotypes. Stereotypical views of gifted children center around the idea that gifted kids are smart and that is the only aspect of their personality. Stereotypes focus on reinforcing the idea that gifted kids are unathletic, unpopular, annoying, and frequently bullied by their peers. These stereotypes are frequently used in children’s media as a means of simplifying the complexities of being gifted and making it easier for kids to understand the concept of the TV show without having to go incredibly in depth. These labels can lead to a negative connotation by gifted children who do not want to be …show more content…
Farm. In both of these shows, the gifted children are seen as outcasts or annoying for simply demonstrating their advanced knowledge. In A.N.T. Farm, Olive Doyle, one of the girls in the gifted program, has an eidetic memory and this trait is frequently shown throughout the show as annoying or disliked by the people around her. Her ability to remember facts and accurately spit them back out again creates several issues for her in finding her place amongst the social hierarchy. She is seen as an annoying, smart, awkward kid and this representation is a culmination of stereotypical gifted traits. This show is set in a high school and because of this, the show’s stereotypical views of gifted kids and their social abilities is even clearer. This emphasis on sticking to the stereotypes in the show rather then following a more accurate portrayal makes the show more dramatic and entertaining; however, it does nothing to relate to the young gifted viewers it has. Jessie, unlike A.N.T Farm, does not make gifted kids an integral part of its plot, instead it uses only one main gifted character. This use of one gifted character increases the use and effect of stereotypes because there are not any other gifted kids to diffuse the other stereotypes onto. The gifted kid, Ravi Ross, is seen as unathletic, nerdy, and smart, and because of this he is bullied a lot and taken advantage of.
The film “A League of Their Own,” depicts a fictionalized tale of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was started during World War II when many of the Major Leagues Biggest stars were drafted to the war. MLB owners decided to start this league with hopes of making money while the men were overseas fighting. Traditional stereotypes of women in sports were already in force before the league even begins. One of the scouts letts Dottie, one of the films main characters she is the perfect combination of looks as well as talent. The scout even rejects one potential player because she is not as pretty as the league is looking for even though she is a great baseball player. The player, Marla’s father said if she was a boy she would be playing for the Yankee’s. Eventually Mara’s father is able to convince the scout to take Marla to try outs because he raised her on his own after her mother died. Her father says it is his fault his daughter is a tomboy. In this case the film reinforces the traditional stereotype that mothers are in charge of raising their daughters and teaching them to be a lady, where fathers are incapable of raising girls to be anything other than a tomboy. The focus on beauty also reinforces the traditional stereotype that men will only be interested in women’s sports when the females participating in
Plucker, J. A., & Barab, S. A. (2005). The importance of contexts in theories of giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 201-216). New York: Cambridge University Press.
His anecdotes presented in the article are appropriate in terms of his subject and claims. The author responds back to the naysayers by saying that people only look at the test scores earned in school, but not the actual talent. He says, “Our culture- in Cartesian fashion- separates the body from the mind, so that, for example we assume that the use of tool does not involve abstraction. We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and number on IQ tests. And we employ social biases pertaining to a person’s place on the occupational ladder” (279). The author says that instead of looking at people’s talent we judge them by their grades in school or their IQ score, and we also employ them based on these numbers. People learn more each time they perform a task. He talks about blue collared individuals developing multi-tasking and creativity skills as they perform the task they are asked to
Plucker, J. A., & Barab, S. A. (2005). The importance of contexts in theories of giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 201-216). New York: Cambridge University Press.
“The Proud Family” is a children’s program that runs daily on The Disney Channel and on Saturday mornings on ABC Kids. It is a TV-G rated program. The show is about an African-American family with the last name Proud. There is a mom, dad, three kids, and a grandmother. The main character of the show is the oldest daughter named Penny Proud who is probably in junior high. Also, some of Penny’s friends are in the show. All of the characters in this show are stereotyped by many things such as race and gender, including Penny.
Gifted and talented programs are intrinsically valuable to many children’s education as they provide a system in which all students involved are engaged, challenged, and intellectually stimulated. In "How People Learn", Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino (1999) stress the importance of each student being given reasonable and appropriate goals based on his or her level of understanding and competency (p. 20). Gifted and talented programs help institutionalize the attempt to meet all student’s needs by providing uniquely appropriate challenges which aim to keep every student engaged, thus receiving the best chance at success. Although there are many valuable and important aspects of gifted education, there are also significant issues rooted in the base of America’s gifted and talented programs, one of which I will address throughout this paper. In my opinion, the most notable problem which troubles gifted and talented programs is the system by which students are selected to join their school’s gifted and talented program.
...e of fifty-three, leaving her unfinished research with Harry Hollingworths. Leta’s most notable contributions to educational psychology in regards to giftedness was the publication of, Gifted Children: Their Nature and Nurture in 1926. Hollingworth was a strong believer that the social environment a child is brought up in has more of an impact on their development in comparison to their genetics. The opportunities and styles of education presented to a child highly influence a child’s behaviors and development.
Many thoughts come into the mind when hearing the word stereotype. The society has been exposed to too many stereotypes. These stereotypes result in controversial issues, which in turn, affect adults and children. The TV shows, internet, and social media are sources that expose children, as well as the adults, to stereotypes. Examples of those stereotypes are religion, sexism, and race. As children grow up by, the age of four they are able to pick up many stereotypes through those sources and without the perception and knowledge these children carry these stereotypes along with them in their long term memory. Moreover, children are not able to know or distinguish whether those thoughts are negative or positive stereotypes, which in turn, cause
A time that I did something that I thought I couldn't do, was to stick up for others. When I was in sixth grade, during recess, I saw a girl named Melissa crying. I went up to her and asked what was wrong. She said that people were talking about her behind her back, and that she felt awkward around them. I consoled her by letting her know that friends don't talk behind friends backs and that you have other people that you can talk to during recess. It bothered me how Melissa was sad. She felt a little better after we talked and then we played games.
Whitney, C. S. & Hirsch, G. (2011). Helping Gifted Children Soar. A Practical Guide for
There is a phenomenon happening in most schools throughout the country. Asian students as young as seven years olds are labeled as gifted and enrolled in various accelerate programs to further develop their talents. Certainly, most of these students are deserving of the honorable recognition. However, many skeptics do question how many of them are viewed as exceptional students based upon the stereotype: they are genetically smarter than their non-Asian peers.
Lovecky, D. V. (1995). Highly Gifted Children and Peer Relationships. Counseling and Guidance Newsletter. Retrieved March 10, 2003, from http://print.ditd.org/floater=74.html.
In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.
Gifted is a heart-warming film that goes through the emotion spectrum, keeping you smiling through the tears. The film tells a story about a young girl, Mary, who is gifted at math. She lives with her uncle, Frank, who wants her to live her life like a normal kid so, he sends her to a typical elementary school rather than continuing to homeschool her. However many people don't agree with Frank`s choice to not enrolling Mary in a gifted program and with how Frank raises Mary. This turns into a custody battle between Mary`s grandmother, Evelyn, and Frank. Gifted is a wonderful movie and exceeds in plot, character/ actor choice, setting, originality, and accuracy.
Parke, B. (n.d.). Challenging gifted students in the regular classroom. Retrieved March 1, 2004, from http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/Challenging_gifted _kids.html